I Need You
by Monica121
Summary: I left. I didn't have the chance to tell anyone. It all happened so fast, and then after that, it was never the right time. But I came back. I didn't expect forgiveness, or acceptance. But that's what I got. TxG Epilogue will be up soon!
1. Chapter 1

This is dedicated to one of my best friends, and my beta, Lee. I am super late on her birthday present (which I still haven't posted) so this is a little extension to her present. Lee, I know it's not HP, but I felt I needed to get SOMETHING up that was just for you :)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

This fic just popped into my head, and I had to write it. I didn't plan anything out, and I just went where it took me. Sorry if you don't enjoy it. And if you don't, I comfort myself knowing that it's for Lee anyway. Unless Lee doesn't like it. Which could be a problem. Lol.

---

It happened so fast. One day, we were in Albuquerque and happy, and the next…

_I came home from school in a great mood. Troy and I had spent the afternoon together, and we had the best time. I really, really love him. _

_I entered the kitchen, and found my mother, sitting at the table, looking grave._

"_Mamí, what's wrong?" I said worriedly. _

"_Hija, I'm so sorry," Was all she said. _

"_What? What's going on Mamí?"_

"_Gabi, sit down," She said quietly._

_I sat, bracing myself for bad news. I thought maybe abuelo had died. _

"_Gabi," Mom started. "I got a call from my company today." _

_Okay, so far, nothing about abuelito. _

"_And?" I asked. _

_My mom closed her eyes and sighed. "We have to move."_

_I stared at her for a second, not fully comprehending. When it sank in, I said, "Mom, but you said they promised!"_

_My mom looked close to tears. "I know. They did promise. But they say they didn't get it in writing. If we don't go, I could lose my job."_

_I was close to tears now. "You promised…"_

"_I know, Gabi, I'm so sorry." _

"_When do they want us to be gone by?"_

"_Saturday." It was Wednesday. Something big must be happening, if they needed us to move so soon._

"_They said they'd take care of selling the house, and—"_

_I couldn't listen anymore. I ran upstairs and cried. _

Things were tough after that. I called Troy, and before I did anything I said…

"_Troy, I need to see you. Now."_

"_Okay? Do you want me to come over?"_

"_No, I can't be in this house anymore. You want to meet somewhere?"_

"_Yeah, let's meet at the park," he said._

"_Okay. Bye."_

"_Bye."_

_There was a click on the line, and I hung up the phone, and ran downstairs. _

I met him in the park that day. I can't believe it was the last time that…

"_Hey, what happened?" Troy said in a concerned voice, walking up to me, and pulling me closer. _

"_Troy, I love you."_

_Troy seemed taken aback. It was the first time either of us had said it. His smile then got really big. "I love you too."_

_I kissed him. When it was over, I stood there, hugging him. Holding on to him as if, once I let go, I would drift away to nothingness. Because that's how it felt. So I held on. _

_When we finally let go, I held his hand. I had to be near him. Had to be touching him. It had to stay the way it was. _

_He walked me home, and we kissed again. I didn't say anything about the move. I would tell him tomorrow._

_I can't believe that was the last time we kissed. _

Because the Wildcats had won district championships, they got to go onto state. Only, I had forgotten. Troy had reminded me millions of times, so I don't know why I hadn't remembered…

"_Where are Troy and Chad?" I asked Taylor. It was after homeroom, and I hadn't seen either of them._

"_States, remember?" Taylor asked._

_I had completely forgotten. State Championships. They wouldn't be back till Sunday. _

_I got a call from Troy that night. _

"_Hey," He said._

"_Hey," I said. "How'd you do today?"_

_As awful as it sounds, I almost wanted him to say they had lost, and would be coming home early. But he didn't._

"_Excellent. The team we played today was pretty easy. They're all righties. And you know… going left." He laughed._

_I managed a smile. "So you'll be home when?" _

"_Sunday," Troy said. _

"_Oh yeah," I said. I couldn't tell him over the phone. I couldn't. Why hadn't I told him yesterday, when I had the chance?_

"_Well, I have to go," Troy said. _

"_Yeah, me too," I said quietly. I didn't add that I had to go to pack. _

"_I love you,"_

"_I love you too,"_

"_Bye."_

_That was the last time we'd spoken. _

We moved to New York. Mamí and I had to get new numbers, so that we wouldn't get charged long distance when we were simply talking to each other.

The school was going to find out that Gabriella Montez moved to New York the Monday after I left. I hadn't told any of them myself.

_Troy… _

I had tried to call him a few times, but New York services were awful, and the calls never went through.

I did talk to Taylor once though. Just once. A few months after I had left.

"_Taylor?" I asked. This was the first time one of my calls had actually gone through._

"_Gabriella?" She asked. _

"_Yes," I said timidly. _

"_GABRIELLA!" Taylor exclaimed. "Is it really you?" Then she seemed to get angry. "How could you do that? Take off and not tell anyone!"_

"_I couldn't… I wasn't…" I couldn't get the words out. I didn't want to tell her that I was too weak to admit I was leaving the only place I was ever truly happy. _

_Taylor sounded kind of angry, but kind of sad. "I miss you."_

"_I miss you too. I've tried calling before, but I've never been able to get through."_

_Taylor sighed. "So you haven't talked to anyone." It was a statement, not a question._

"_That's right." _

"_So you don't know about…" _

"_Know about what?"_

"_Troy," She said. _

"_No, what about Troy?" I asked worriedly. What was going on? Was he hurt?_

"_He's with Elena Sebastian." _

"_What do you mean, 'With?'" I said, already knowing. _

"_They've been dating. Two weeks." _

"_Oh," I said. "Well, I have to go," I said quietly. _

"_Gabriella, wait, no!" Taylor said. But it was too late. I had hung up._

_I suppose it was my own fault. I was scared to call. Scared he'd be mad. I really hadn't been able to get through ever on the phone lines, but I knew that wasn't the only form of communication. I could have written him a letter. Our computer hadn't been set up yet, so email was out. But a letter. I should have written him a letter. _

That's when my mom decided.

"_Gabriella, you've seemed kind of depressed since we've been in New York… For Spring Break, I was wondering if you wanted to go back to New Mexico?"_

_Mom didn't know about anything that had happened. She didn't know about Troy **or **his new girlfriend. _

"_Yeah," I said. I didn't know what else to say._

_I could always just go visit Kelsi. She could keep the secret that I was back in town. _

And that's how I ended up back near East High again. I really did miss it. I missed Troy. I had messed up, and messed up big.

I tried calling Taylor, once we had gotten nearer to New Mexico. It didn't go through. So I tried calling Kelsi. This time it went through.

"_Kelsi?" I asked._

"_Oh my goodness! Gabriella?" Kelsi asked._

"_Yeah, it's me."_

"_Oh my goodness!" She said again. "How are you?"_

"_I'm alright…" I said. "You?"_

"_Well, the Spring Musical wasn't the same without you and Troy…"_

"_Troy didn't do the musical?"_

"_Nope." _

"_I'm going to be back in town for a couple of days. Do you want to hang out when I get there? My mom said that if it's okay with your parents, you could come stay at the hotel with me a night. Like a sleepover. But in a hotel."_

_I knew from Kelsi's voice that she had a huge smile. "I'd like that."_

"_Good," I said, smiling for the first time in ages._

"_Call me when you get in, alright?"_

"_Yup," I said._

"_Bye, talk soon," Kelsi said._

"_Talk soon," I said. _

We got on our next flight, and had no complications in picking up our luggage etc. I called Kelsi the next night.

"_Hey, Kelsi, it's Gabi."_

"_Oh, hey Gabi! You get in?"_

"_Yup," I said. "So you want to come to the hotel tonight?" _

Kelsi sighed. "I'm going out with Jason tonight…"

"_Well, you want to do it tomorrow then?"_

"_Yeah, that'll be great!" Kelsi said. _

"_Okay, see you then. I'll give you directions tomorrow. Gimme a call, alright?"_

"_You got it," Kelsi said._

"_And Kelsi?" I said._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Don't tell anyone."_

"_I won't."_

Kelsi went on her date, and from what I can gather, she accidentally slipped out that I was there. But I didn't find out till much later.

The next night, Kelsi came over. My mom and I had separate hotel rooms, because her company offered to pay for it. So my mom was in the room next door.

"_Gabriella!" She yelled, and, even with as small as she is, she gave me a huge hug. "I've missed you! Things just aren't the same…"_

"_I know what you mean. I hate New York." _

_Kelsi frowned. "I'm sorry…"_

"_Don't be. I just wish I could have fixed things here before leaving."_

"_So you haven't talked to anyone yet?"_

"_Nope," I said. "No one but you."_

_Kelsi smiled. Then, she got a contemplative look on her face and said, "Troy's been a wreck without you."_

"_I thought you said he was with Elena?"_

"_He is. But he isn't happy. They won states, you know."_

"_Really?" I felt a lump form in my throat. I should have known that. I should have been there to know that. _

"_That morning was awful… The whole team came to school, and they were all so excited. And then none of us could find you. You know how I take passes to classrooms for the office during my study hall? Well, I was in Darbus's room right when she announced."_

"…_What did she say?" I asked quietly. _

"_Well, she was really, really sad. She said, 'I regret to inform you all that Ms. Montez will no longer be with us.'_

"_Troy looked like he was going to cry. He yelled out, 'What happened? Did she…'_

"_Darbus looked at him sadly and said, "No Mr. Bolton, she is not dead. She moved. I take it you didn't know.' And Troy still looked like he would cry."_

"_And everyone else?"_

"_I was stunned. Kind of upset, and worried too. Taylor looked really sad, and Chad was worried about Troy. Even Sharpay and Ryan were upset. Jason, like Chad, was worried about Troy, and then about me."_

"_I'm sorry," I said. "I caused so many problems." My eyes started getting a little watery. _

_Kelsi got up and gave me a hug. "Don't be sorry. You were overwhelmed."_

_I gave a half smile through my tears, but it quickly faded. _

"_How did Troy…"_

"_Get with Elena?"_

"…_Yeah."_

"_Well, he's been sick with devastation since you've been gone. Elena, whose a brat by the way, stepped in and started being all sweet to Troy, and trying to fill your shoes. Really, I don't think Troy buys her act. He's just trying to fill your void. But we can all tell… he's depressed. Jason, Chad, Taylor and I were talking about it the other day. We're worried about him. He's in love with you, Gabi."_

_I was shaking._

"_Oh, Gabi, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry."_

"_No, Kelsi, it's alright. I needed to hear this."_

_Kelsi sighed. "So how do you like New York? Made a lot of friends?"_

_I sighed now too. "Not a single one."_

_Kelsi said, "Oh, Gabi, I'm sorry."_

_We just laid on our separate beds for a little while, in silence, thinking._

"_Do you talk to Troy a lot?" I asked finally._

"_Sometimes. When Jason and I hang out with him and Elena. Goodness, do I hate her."_

"_You hate her?"_

"_She doesn't say the nicest things about people."_

"_Oh," I said dejectedly._

"_She says things to put you down, because she knows Troy is still in love with you. And Troy gets all silent and angry. To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen them kiss. I don't know if they have."_

"_Did he say why he didn't try out for the musical?"_

"_He said that he couldn't. That it was just bad timing. We all knew that it was because he couldn't do it without you. Ryan and Sharpay did alright. But even they didn't put in 100. We all knew it wasn't right without you."_

_I sighed. "I ruined everything."_

"_Gabi, don't talk like that. It wasn't your fault." _

"_I think we need to get out of this hotel room. We need to walk around. Do you want to go somewhere? Let's go somewhere," I said, feeling suddenly sick of the room._

"_Sure," Kelsi said lightly. "Where do you want to go?"_

"_I don't know. Where do you want to go?"_

"_We could go… I don't know, walk around down town?"_

"_Okay," Kelsi said, "Let's go."_

So we knocked on my mom's door, and told her we were going to walk around down town. She told us to be careful, and to be in by one.

While we were walking, I saw Troy. He was walking slowly. His hair was messy, as if he didn't care enough to do anything to it anymore. He was with Elena. He spotted me.

"_Kelsi," I whispered to her. "Run!"_

_Kelsi looked up, and over to where I was looking. She saw Troy. "Oh no…" Was all she said. _

_Kelsi and I turned the other way, and began walking (rather fast, I might add) to the hotel. I heard Troy call my name, and I sprinted. I knew Kelsi was close behind me, so I didn't worry. But then, I heard extra footsteps, which were falling too quickly to be Kelsi's. I felt him grab my arm._

"_Gabriella," He said, looking into my eyes, looking for **something. **_

_I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what I **could **say. _

_So I didn't say anything. _

_Troy looked at me and I could tell he was unbelievably hurt. _

"_I love you," He said in a sad way._

_I knew I felt the same. I had said it to him before, and that's how I still felt. But I felt I didn't have the **right **to say it anymore. I had left him. I wanted to say it so badly, but my mouth didn't seem to form the words. _

_So, after a moment of me having this internal battle with myself, he turned away, and I sunk to the floor and cried. _

_Kelsi had finally caught up to us, and opened her mouth to say something to Troy, but he just kept walking. _

_She knelt down next to me, and gave me a hug. "Gabriella, please don't cry." _

_I sniffed, and wiped my eyes. "Kelsi, I love him. But I can't tell him that. When I leave, it will only hurt us both more."_

"_Shh," Kelsi whispered. "It'll be okay."_

_She helped me up, and we walked back to the hotel. We had half-hearted conversations about this and that, but neither of us was fully focused on what we were saying._

I felt like I had let everyone down. I had messed up everyone's life. Troy eyes were so sad, and I didn't say a single **word **to him. I'm awful.

I wanted so badly to tell him how much he means to me, but I couldn't. It would hurt us more later. Or at least that's what I thought. Until Kelsi and I finally talked about it.

"_But don't you think that if you talk to him, you can work things out. Long distance relationships are hard, sure, but you can make it work. I think it would be harder on both of you to be broken up than in a distance relationship…." Kelsi trailed off. _

_I knew she was right. I knew it. But I just didn't know what to do. We talked a little more, until we decided to get a movie. I don't even remember what we rented. I just knew that at the end, we were both exhausted, and decided to sleep. _

But I didn't sleep through the whole night. I woke up at three in the morning. I had had a dream, and that dream led me to my revelation.

_The hotel wasn't far from where he lived. I had left the room with my keys, and my pepper spray. Just in case. I mean, it WAS 3 am. _

_I was half way there when it started raining. Just my luck. New Mexico doesn't get a lot of rain, but when I am running outside at three in the morning, the heaviest rainfall of the year takes place._

_By the time I got to Troy's, I was soaked, and I didn't even have a clue of what to do. I ran around to the back of the house, where I knew his room was. His room was the one that had the balcony, like mine did. And I was surprised. He was sitting by his window, inside, looking at the stars. _

_I was starting to get cold, and was praying that he saw me. And then he did. He stared at me for a second, not sure he was really seeing me. So I waved. _

_He disappeared from the window, and was outside in a flash, with an umbrella, and a blanket. _

_Before he could say anything, I whispered, "I need you." _

_---_

Well, what do you think? I'll probably do an epilogue to this. But that's it. **There will be no other chapters, unless I do an epilogue.** It just felt like the right place to end it. It's a difficult situation to fix, long distance relationships. So I decided not to. Again though, I'm 99.9 sure that I will do an epilogue.

Lee, how did you like it? I have more good news for your present.

**ANYONE WHO READS MY OTHER STORIES SHOULD READ THIS NEXT NOTE!**

Chapter 7 of **Someday We'll Know** will be up before March 22nd. That's the date I've set for myself. Lee's actual birthday present will be up before the 17th. Then, after that, I'm just going to slowly update everything I've not been updating. Like my challenge fic, **Her Best and Worst Mistake,** and my **Shadowland** fic! Also, the new chapters of My Dad Taught Me will keep going up like they have been. Hope you are all excited like I am!

Love,  
Monica


	2. Epilogue

Wow guys! I love the feedback! You're all unbelievably supportive, and I love it! I love getting reviews. They make my day :)

Disclaimer: I don't own it, don't pretend to. Meaning, you can't sue.

Dedication: For Lee, who is so great and wonderful, and the best friend anyone could have.

So here is the epilogue I promised!

---

_I was standing in the rain, tears threatening to spill, and Troy just stood there for a second, not saying anything. _

_**Why did you leave?** Was the silent question he was asking me. His eyes looked so sad, and I felt helpless to change that. _

_Finally he spoke. "I need you too."_

_He wrapped the blanket around me, though I realized later, it probably didn't make a difference, since the blanket was being soaked in the rain as well. _

_We walked over to his porch, and sat on the porch swing. _

_We sat in silence for a few minutes, simply listening to the rain. _

"_Why didn't you tell me?" He asked finally._

"_I was going to…" I said._

"_When? Once you were half way across the country?" His voice didn't sound bitter or angry, just incredibly wounded. "That day you told me…" He trailed off, but then found his voice again. "That day, did you know you were leaving? Is that why you said it? You knew you didn't have to back it up with anything, so you could say whatever you wanted with no consequences?"_

_My heart sank, as I realized what he was trying to say. He thought I hadn't meant it when I said I loved him. _

"_Troy, you don't understand…" _

"_Gabriella,** don't** tell me I don't understand. I had to hear it from Darbus, okay? I didn't even hear it from your own mouth that you were leaving. It could have been over the phone, online. A letter even, I don't care! But you just left without a word."_

_My head hung low, and I felt my body was just about to shut down. _

"_Troy, this was a mistake. I shouldn't have come here."_

_I got up from the swing, and walked back out into the rain. _

_I felt a hand on my arm. "Gabriella, wait." _

"_No," I said, my voice heavy. "You're right. I'm awful, and heartless, and—."_

"_No, Gabi, you aren't," He said. _

_I felt all the tears that I had been afraid to cry since I left well up, and my entire body felt heavy. I sunk to the ground, onto the wet pavement._

_Troy didn't let me stay there though. He pulled me up, and he kissed me. It was salty and wet, a mix of my tears and the rain. When we finally pulled away, he put his forehead to mine. _

"_I missed that."_

_I suddenly realized just exactly what we had done. I kissed my ex-boyfriend, who I was still in love with, and who had a new girlfriend._

"_Troy, this isn't right,"  
_

_Troy pulled away suddenly. "Why not?" He asked. "You've got someone in New York then?"_

"_No, Troy, I don't." _

"_Then what is it? You really were lying when you said… You know what? It doesn't even matter now." He turned, beginning to walk away._

"_No, Troy, wait!"_

_He stopped walking but didn't turn around, so I spoke to his back. _

"_Troy, you have a girlfriend. This isn't right, and you know it."_

_Troy turned slowly. "Is that all? Gabi, Elena and I broke up today. We weren't ever a couple. Not really. We never even kissed."_

_I swallowed hard, hoping for him to continue. _

"_Because I still love you. So when I saw you today, when I was about to run to you, she grabbed my arm and told me that if I went after you, things were over." I heard a small smile in his voice. "And do you know what I did? I ran off without a second thought, never looking back."_

_I smiled through my tears, which had been continuing to fall. _

"_Troy…" I said quietly._

_He turned around fully now, and wrapped his arms around me. I don't know how long we stood there, but eventually, I fell asleep._

That night was three months ago. I woke up in Troy's room, though I didn't know it was his room at the time, since I had never been in there. Troy, I guess, had explained everything to his mother, who had called my mother and explained everything.

We left two days later. Troy and I separated on shaky terms.

"_So, what does this mean now?" He asked quietly. We were in his backyard, and hour before my mom and I needed to leave to the airport. _

"_I… I don't know."_

"_Well… Where did you apply to?"_

"_I don't… I…"_

"_Gabriella, your mother says she couldn't reach you on your cell phone. She says its time for you to head back to the hotel," Mrs. Bolton called from inside._

"_Troy, I—"_

"_Gabriella, this is just some big joke to you, isn't it?"_

"_Troy, no—"_

"_Gabriella, forget it. Go back to New York. I guess we're done here."_

"_Troy, I—"_

"_Go, or you'll miss your flight."_

_His eyes looked so harsh, but beneath the harshness, it was apparent that he was hurt. _

_I turned, and felt the tears well up in my eyes. So I ran. Out the back gate, and all the way back to the hotel._

_So I got on my plane that day, and one thought ran through my head the whole time. What if I died? What if the plane crashed, and Troy thought I didn't want to be with him?_

But when my plane landed, I convinced myself that he didn't want to be with me anymore, and that was the end of the story.

But it wasn't the end of the story. And I knew that. I just didn't want to admit it.

I stayed in touch with most of them now. Taylor, Kelsi, Sharpay and Ryan too. Jason and I occasionally spoke, if he was with Kelsi, and the same went for Chad but with Taylor.

The truth is, I hadn't told Troy where I applied to because I didn't know myself. Its funny isn't it? I, Gabriella Montez, "the brain," had absolutely no idea where I wanted to go to college. But when I got a full ride to Columbia… Well, I knew I had to take it. And it wasn't far from where Mamí lived.

_I had told Kelsi and Taylor about Columbia a few days ago. And I got a call from an unknown number a day later. _

"_Hello?" I said. _

"_Gabriella?"_

_My heart sank and soared at the same time._

"_Troy? Where are you calling from?"_

'_My new cell, the old one got smashed at practice last week."_

"_Oh," I said. "Well, thanks for your new number."_

"_Well, that's not the only reason I called," Troy said honestly. _

"_Yeah?" I said quietly. _

"_I heard you got into Columbia?" Troy asked. He was unsure, though I didn't know why._

"_Yes, that's right," I said. _

"_And, uh, are you going?" Troy asked. _

"_Uh, yes, I am."_

_And that's when it happened. I could hear the smile in Troy's voice. And if I'm any judge, it was a rather large smile. "Gabi, I got into NYU." _

_I smiled, but I didn't get my hopes up. "And you are…?"_

"_Going." _

That one word, just one word, meant more to me in that moment then most words meant in a lifetime.

And it made everything okay.

---

And that's it. I'm happy with it, because it left things kind of open-ended. At first I wasn't sure. I mean, should I leave things with the dramatic ending I had planned, or go on and write this, to wrap it up. Obviously, I chose the latter.

Hope everyone liked it! And Lee, I hope you especially liked it!

Look for a new one-shot from me _very_ soon.

Love,

Monica


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